Rail-laying tool.



M. FLDY. RAIL LAYING TOOL. APPLicATloN FILED JAN.25, 1916.

1,209,333. y Patented oct. 3,1916.

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IvIATT FLDY, or sIIARPLEs, wEsT VIRGINIA.

RAIL-LAYING TOOL.

Application filed January 25, 1916.

To all LU/wm t may conce/rn:

Be it known that I, MATT FLDY, a subject of the King of I-Iungary, residing at Sharples, in the county of Logan and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Laying Tools, of which the following is a specilication.

'I his invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in rail-laying tools.

The primary object of the invention isthe provision of a tool 0r implement serviceable both as a gage for spacing railroad rails in parallelism properl distances apart and also providing a spike puller and a wrench for applying the fish plates in their operative positions. y

A further object of the invention is the provision of a combination gage bar and wrench handle having adjustable limit or spacing blocks shiftably mounted thereon with respect to a gage carried thereby.

In laying a railroad track, it is highly essential that the railsbe secured to the roadbed in parallelism, and the present tool is provided with a handle form of gage having adjustable blocks thereon for accurately spacing the rails apart the desirable distance, a removable wrench being attached at one end of the handle for employment in securing the bolts to the fish plates for connecting vthe rails together, while a spike puller claw is integrally formed at the opposite end of the handle.

With these general objects in viewl and others that will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this application and in which like-designatingv characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is an edge elevation thereof, and Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views taken respectively upon lines III- III. IV-IV and V-V of. Fig. 1.

The handle or gage bar 10 is substantially rectangular in cross section and is provided at one end with a curved extension 11 having a laterally beveled end 12 provided with a claw 13. The opposite end of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3,1916.

serial No. 74,166. Y

bar 10 is provided with a-recess 141 therein adapted for the removable reception of the shank or tang 15 of a. wrench 16, a bolt 17 being provided for retaining the said wrench in position in substantial longitudinal alinelnent with the bar 10. The eX- tension 11 being curved ltoward one edge 18 of the bar 10the opposite edge thereof is enlarged or flared forming oppositely projecting parallel iianges or guide ribs 19, the said flanges being substantially in the .form of a rightangle triangle in cross section.

Spaced blocks 2O are slidably mounted upon the guide flanges 19 by means of a longitudinal dove tailed form of side groove 21 with which each of the said blocks is provided. A set screw 22 is arranged upon each of the blocks 20 for engaging the adjacent edge 19 of the bar 10 for maintaining the blocks 20 properly spaced apart. Graduations Q3 are arranged upon the opposite sides of the bar 10 and the adjacent outer faces of the flanges 19 and may be after the form of the metric scale or the usual inch and foot graduations as herein illustrated and best shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

The base portions or feet 21 of the blocks 20 extend away from each other and toward the opposite ends of the bar 10, the said feet having flat end faces Q5 adapted to engage the inner sides of adjacent rails for accurately spacing the rails apart.

In operation, the blocks 241 are adjusted upon the flanges 19, so as to position the block faces 25 at the required distance apart as denoted by the scale 23, it being understood that in laying the standard gage of road, the rails are positioned four feet, eight and a half inches apart, and with the lower edge of the bar resting flatly upon the treads of the rails, the rails are drawn together until they engage the block faces 25 and are thus arranged yin parallelism the requisite distance apart.

It will be noted that the flanges 19 provide the lower edge of the bar with greater area, whereby the bar may be readily seated or positioned upon the rails, the blocks 20 further acting as weights for retaining the bar operatively arranged upon the treads thereof. The wrench 16 is employed for tightening the set nuts upon the bolts of the sh plates for connecting the rails together in the usual manner, while the claw 13 may be utilized whenever desired for eX- tracting the railway spikes and removing the iish plates and also the retaining bolts.

A serviceable tool i is thuis provided of special advantage in laying a railway track and providing a spacing gage, spike claw, and a iish plate wrench. in a unitary structure.

lVhile the form oi the invention herein shown and described is what is believed to be the preferred embodiment thereof, it is nevertheless to heV understood 4that minor changes may be inade therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as claimed. Y

That I claim as new is 1L A. railway tool comprising a bar substantially rectangular in cross section and having longitudinal guide iianges at the Copies of this patent may be obtained for mounting edge thereof, the opposite sides of the said bar and the adjacent outer faces of the said flanges being provided with graduations, blocks having dove-tailed grooves for the reception oi' said flanges, the said blocks being enlarged at their outer ends to provide rail engaging faces.

A track gage including a inetal bar substantially rectangular in cross-section, the lower side edges of the bar being outwardly flared to provide guide iianges having gradnation marks on the upper sides thereof, a pair of rail-engaging blocks having dovetailed grooves therein slidably received on the iianged side of the bar, and means for holding the blocks in fixed relative positions.

lnk testimony whereof affix my signature.

MATT roLDY.

WashingtonfD. C. 

